Current Opportunities

Current Advocacy Opportunities

Advocacy is one of our many guiding principles. As such, we affirm that direct services to the homeless will include advocacy, and that the work of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance will include changing institutional policies and practices, training of professionals, policy and legislative change, educating funders, and raising hell when necessary.

Local Advocacy Opportunities

Take the Fair Housing Center's Welcome in My Backyard ("WIMBY") Pledge to let local policymakers and the public know that you value living in an open, inclusive, and diverse community and that you welcome all people from all walks of life into your neighborhood.

State Advocacy Opportunities

Consider supporting the following state-level funding increases, as part of the Governor’s proposed budget for FY 2018, to programs that support people experiencing homelessness:

A $3.7 million increase for DHHHS Emergency Shelter Program (ESP); shelter reimbursement would go from $12 a day to $16 a day

Increase of $150 million for Department of Education for students who are identified as “at-risk”.

Federal Advocacy Opportunities

The proposed federal budget for FY 2018 was released at the end of May and it includes deep cuts to many safety net programs that help low-income families across the country access food, healthcare, housing, and more. Learn more about the federal budget cuts here.

Overall, the President is requesting $7.4 billion in cuts to HUD, a 15% reduction from 2017 funding levels. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), the budget would "increase homelessness and hardship in every state" by raising rents for nearly 4 million low-income households currently receive federal assistance, cutting funding for public housing and Homeless Assistance Grants, and eliminating various programs that provide flexible funding to poor urban and rural communities.

Joining the Hands Off Campaign, a national campaign dedicated to preventing cuts to basic living programs such as affordable housing, Medicaid, disability, benefits, nutrition assistance, and environmental protections;